ue the maddening monotony of
his movements, she was seized with a rash resolve to wrench the oars
out of his hands, and made a quick motion towards him, at which he
shouted:

"Sit down! Do you want to upset us?"

The unstable craft lurched and dipped dangerously, and, realizing the
futility of her mad impulse, she sank back on her knees.

"Put me ashore!"

"No," he said, "not till I'm ready. Now, keep your seat or we'll both
drown; this ain't a ferry-boat." After a few strokes, he added, "We'll
never get along together unless you tame that temper."

"We're not going to get along together, Mr. Runnion--only as far as the
Mission. I dare say you can tolerate me until then, can you not?" She
said this bitingly.

"Stark told me to board the first boat for St. Michael's," he said,
disregarding her sarcasm, "but I've made a few plans of my own the last
hour or so."

"St. Michael's! Mr. Stark told you--why, that's impossible! You
misunderstood him. He told you to row me to the Mission. I'm going to
Father Barnum's house."

"No, you're not, and I didn't misunderstand him. He wants to get you
outside, all right, but I reckon you'd rather go as Mrs. Runnion than
as the sweetheart of Ben Stark."

"Are you crazy?" the girl cried. "Mr. Stark kindly offered to help me
reach the Father at his Mission. I'm nothing to him, and I'm certainly
not going to be anything to you. If I'd known you were going to row the
boat, I should have stayed at home, because I detest you."

"You'll get over that."

"I'm not in the humor for jokes."

He rested again on his oars, and said, with deliberation:

"Stark 'kindly offered' did he? Well, whenever Ben Stark 'kindly'
offers anything, I'm in on the play. He's had his eye on you for the
last three months, and he wants you, but he slipped a cog when he gave
me the oars. You needn't be afraid, though, I'm going to do the square
thing by you. We'll stop in at the Mission and be married, and then
we'll see whether we want to go to St. Michael's or not, though
personally I'm for going back to Flambeau."

During the hours while he had waited for Necia to discover his
identity, the man's mind had not been idle; he had determined to take
what fortune tossed into his lap. Had she been the unknown, unnoticed
half-breed of a month or two before, he would not have wasted thought
upon priests or vows, but now that a strange fate had worked a change
in her before the world, he accepted it.

The gi